Saturday, November 3, 2012

Wow, I can't believe it is already November. October turned out to be a fun and busy fun. Here is a little of what we did!

At the beginning of October was fall break for Naomi. During that time we spent a few days with the Oberly's at their family cabin. It was a lot of fun. The kids played and explored and got really dirty.

(Pictured: Naomi with her friend Jaxon, Naomi with baby Molly, my baby Jaxon playing with Troy in the dirt, Naomi on the motorcycle with my friend Emily, some pics of just Naomi and just baby Jaxon, Naomi eating breakfast with baby Jaxon, and Naomi with Troy and Jaxon)

One of the days at the cabin Emily and I decided to take the bigger kids on the hike and leave baby Molly with her husband. It was fun and the kids did really well, even baby Jaxon walked part of it. I carried him most of the way, with help from Emily. Let's just say my arms were very sore.

And Jaxon was busy practicing his swing at the cabin. He'll be the next Phil Mickelson because he swings left -handed. Here is proof.

Lots of Halloween festivities went on throughout the month, but I didn't get many pictures of most it. But I did get some cute pictures from the pumpkin patch. Jaxon was being a stinker and wouldn't look at the camera most of the time.

And finally we had an awesome Halloween. Our ward trunk-or-treat was on Halloween so that is how we celebrated. Grandpa Buzz came with us. Naomi dressed up as a witch, I was her black cat, Jaxon was a golfer, Cory was his caddy, and our truck was Mater. The costumes turned out so cute! We ate chili, played some carnival games the youth were in charge of, and trick-or-treated to all the cars. Naomi had fun and Jaxon did too. He mostly enjoyed eating suckers.

Here is a closeup of Cory's caddy bib that I made, and Naomi's witches broom that we made together.

Friday, October 12, 2012

If you didn't know, I have gone through many cell phones in my marriage. I think I went through 4 in our first year of marriage. This has not been by choice, the phones just stop working or break in a way that is irreparable. And they usually break before I can get the pictures off. That being said, my current phone I have had for more then a year (knock on wood) and I have finally uploaded the pictures onto my computer.

So here is a highlight of the pictures I have captured on my phone.

My baby was so little, and Naomi loves making faces.

Jaxon in a fun viking hat.

Naomi and the bubble wand.

Jaxon climbing into a toy bin. One of his favorite pastimes.

Jaxon was done eating because he was busy making this face.

Sibling love. They have so much fun together.

Naomi's baby (cat) sling. She played with this on for almost 30 minutes.

And some more sibling love. I actually have a lot of pictures of them sitting in a bin or basket together.

Here are some crafts I captured on my phone because of my missing camera.

These are yarn letters I made as my prize for the Win It Forward giveaway I posted here.

With the help of Naomi, painted these letters for my kitchen.

This was a baby gift for my friend, an ombre yarn letter. I am really happy with how it turned out.

This is not a craft of mine, this was Naomi's artwork which she created on the sidewalk in front of my house with the surrounding rocks. This took her about 30 minutes. We were very impressed with her work. It was cleaned up the next day, but luckily I got a picture of it.

Well I know this was picture overload, but that is what happens when you haven't uploaded pictures from your phone in...well, ever. So what is on your phone? Go on and post some pictures from your phone. Leave me a comment so I can check out your post.

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Jaxon has been walking 4-6 steps for the last 3 weeks. He even walked 9 steps one night while my friend was babysitting. But this past week on Monday August 13 Jaxon mastered the skill of walking by himself.

(Sorry the video is sideways, tried to fix it but couldn't do it)

He has really good balance and will bend down to pick things up and stand right back up. He also can stand up all by himself. He has also learned to kick a ball like he's playing soccer. Pretty sure he learned it from watching Naomi. Can't believe my boy is growing up so fast.

Here are some other videos I thought you would enjoy of Jaxon.

Screaming Jaxon

The Golfer or Hockey Player

Now we're on the countdown to nursery. Only five more months ; )

Oh and I can't forget Naomi. School has been going well for her. I wish I had my camera on Friday, because once I picked her up from the bus stop after school she skipped all the way home. It was the cutest thing, and I could tell that she had a great day.

A couple weeks ago for family night we went bowling. Naomi loves bowling, so here are a couple pictures of her in action.

Getting set up with Daddy.

Happy that she knocked down some pins, this might have been the time she got a spare.

Monday, August 13, 2012

The end of July was a big month of Firsts for our family: Naomi's First day of school, Jaxon's First birthday, and Jaxon's First birthday party. Funny thing is Naomi's first day of school and Jaxon's birthday landed on the same day.

The Story of Naomi's First Day of School (a little long but a good read)

Well Naomi's first day of school started out amazing. She was so excited! We ate yummy puffins (pancake muffins, so delicious, definitely a recipe you should try). Got ready, played, took pictures, played some more, and then waited for the bus. We waited and waited, in the heat, and waited some more. Fifteen minutes passed and we were still waiting. I sent Naomi in to go to the bathroom while Jaxon and I waited on the porch. Just before Naomi came back out the bus came by, but it didn't stop just passed us by. Didn't even look. Naomi came running out so she wouldn't miss the bus. She asked me where the bus was and I told her it didn't stop. She was very sad, and I was a little mad. She sat down on the sidewalk and started crying, which broke my heart. I thought, wow this is the worst way to start off her schooling experience. We waited about 5 more minutes, and then I told Naomi we needed to go and that I would drive her to school. She told me she did not want me to drive her, and yes she was still crying. She then calmed down and we got in the car so I could get her to school before she was late. I was pretty mad and anxious, I thought I would watch her get on the bus and cry, but no, I was driving her to school pretty frustrated. But I first dropped off Jaxon at my sister-in-law's house because I needed to walk Naomi in to the school and talk to the front office.We got to school just as the bell was ringing to line up. So she got in line and I watched her walk into her class with her new classmates. Before I left I talked to her teacher to make sure she would get on the correct bus going home. Her teacher told me before I left that the first thing Naomi told her was that the bus driver forgot to pick her up. I was about to go and talk to the front office about the this but then her bus driver walked up with the kids because they were late. She said she realized she forgot our stop once she got to the next one so she had to go all the way around again to get to our house, but by that time we were gone. So I didn't talk to the office because I felt good after talking to the bus driver and finding out that she did come back. So I drove back to pick up Jaxon, and then went home, where I stressed about whether she would make it home on the correct bus.

After Jaxon's nap we got up and walked to the bus stop. Above is Jaxon waiting for Naomi to get home. So we waited and we waited and we waited some more. And finally after waiting a half hour in 110+ degree weather, this happy girl hops off the bus (pictured below).

She told me that she sits at the purple table and made lots of new friends, but she couldn't remember their names. She told me how they learned the class rules. And she said it was the best day ever. But if you ask her how her first day of school went the first thing she would tell you is that the bus driver forgot to pick her up. But even though that there was an issue with the first day of school we all survived. And hey, we got a good story out of it.

So here are pictures from her second day of school, but here FIRST time getting picked up by the bus to go to school. She loves riding the bus. Still she gets a little concerned everyday that the bus might forget her again. But we haven't had any problems since.

Now the birthday boy! I can't believe he is one. It seems like yesterday when he was a newborn and slept all the time. Now he is almost a toddler. Almost walking, trying to talk to us, understanding so much! They grow so fast.

This was my practice cake for Jaxon's big party.

On his birthday we had cake just the 4 of us. Jaxon tasted the cake and got a little dirty but mostly just liked squishing it between his fingers.

Party Like A Rockstar!Jaxon's first birthday party was a Rockstar / Milk & Cookies bash

Jaxon was really happy for his party which I was really happy about. My friend Karen took all the pictures. Thanks! It was nice being able to host and enjoy the party without having to also worrying about taking pictures.

Most of our family and close friends were able to attend. Not all are pictured though. We had a photo booth where you could dress up like a rock star. We got some good pictures.

Jaxon actually tried to get into the presents before everyone arrived. When it came time to open them he didn't quite get it, but Naomi showed him the way. His favorite gift is the plastic golf club set. He holds them about 95% of the day.

Jaxon was getting tired so we wanted to hurry and do the cake. Above is the guitar cake that I made and iced with homemade buttercream icing. I'm very happy with how it turned out. I got my idea from Pinterest, I just made it my own by tinting the icing blue and grey instead.

We sang, Naomi blew out the candle, then we gave Jaxon his own piece to dive into. He poked at it, tasted it, and then screamed for his golf club. He enjoyed chewing on his golf club more then eating the cake. Oh well. We had a fun time!

It was so fun to celebrate all these FIRSTS with my kids. I may not have cried in the moment but thinking about it brings tears to my eyes.

AND because it is fun to show you some comparison pictures, here is Jaxon and Naomi both at 1 year. What do you think? I think Jaxon is starting to develop his own look.

Oh and I love this picture, the lighting didn't turn out very well, but you can see how much they love each other.

***Little update: Jaxon is still not walking, which I don't mind, but he is very close. The most steps he has taken is 6. He moves pretty fast along the furniture and the walls. I'm afraid he might skip walking and just run. Hopefully not though.

Monday, July 9, 2012

Jaxon was 11 months at the end of June. Crazy that he is almost a year. He is the funniest little boy. He has so much personality, just like his big sister. He loves to throw anything in his hands, he's got a pretty good arm.

I thought you'd enjoy seeing a comparison picture of Naomi and Jaxon. This is a picture of them both at 11 months old. Can you guess who is who? Jaxon is on the left and Naomi the right, they look a lot a like.

This is what Jaxon is doing and loving at 11 months:

Crawls really fast

Army crawls when his hands are full of toys

Favorite game is to play catch (they are all gentle tosses)

Loves to crawl right into Naomi and head butt her

Likes to "bonk" (knock his forehead against yours)

Loves to throw his food

Loves to point and grunt to tell you where he wants to go or what thing he wants you to hand him

Loves his blanket and stuffed animal for naptime and bedtime

Screams all the time

Almost weaned of me

Points to Cory and says Da da, points to me and says Ma ma

Can kind of sign more, please, and all done

The month of June was also a very busy month for me. I hosted 2 baby showers.

One was for my friend Emily, who just had her sweet baby girl Molly. Sadly I didn't take any pictures of her shower, so I'll just have to tell you about. I hosted the shower at my house. The theme was Ready to Pop with pink and green colors. Emily's sister made a cute banner that said It's a Girl. The food was cookie bowl fruit bar (cookie bowls made by Emily's sister in law), two types of popcorn (white chocolate and smores), and a yummy green salad (made by Emily's step mom in law). We had a Skittles guessing game, where you had to guess how many skittles were in the jar and whoever was the closest won the candy jar with all the skittles in it. I made the jar, but didn't take a picture. Then we played the Celebrity Baby Name game, Baby Edition Scattergories (click on the link to see where I got the idea), and guess how big her belly is by blowing up balloons. The winner of the belly game had to stick the balloon up their shirt and take a picture with her. For the sign in, my sis in law made some cute M's to sign on. I also made a yarn letter M in a purple ombre design (the picture is on my phone so I'll post that soon). The favor was Pop, to go with the theme and the tag said Thanks for Popping By.

The second shower was for my friend and visiting teachee, Stefani. She is going to have a little boy, so the colors for the shower were turquoise, yellow, and red and the theme was B is for Boy and Bow tie. My friend Lauryn and I helped Stefani's sister throw the shower. Lauryn made these super cute invitations and all the little signs for food and decor. Alison got all the food and decor figured out. And I hosted and made a banner and did the games. I really like how the banner turned out.

For the banner I used burlap; red, yellow, and turqoise paint; and black ribbon. I found a font I liked on my computer printed it off and cut it out to make a stencil, same with the bow ties. After the paint dried I hot glued the burlap onto the ribbon. What took the most time was cutting out the letters, other then that it was way easier then I'd thought it would be. The food was a breakfast bar. We had and parfait bar, fruit, donuts, muffins, and breakfast casserole. All so yummy. The food was brought by friends and family. The first game was the skittles guessing game. I made the jar. It only cost me $1: $1 for the candlestick from the dollar store. And I already had the jar, paint for lid, finial for lid, and gorilla glue to glue everything together. Winner got the jar.

The sign in was baby wishes (click link to see where I got the idea). And we hung it from twine with clothespins. We also played guess how big her belly is (with yarn) and Celebrity baby names. The favor was B is for Bubblegum (click link to see where I got the idea) and other candy. It turned out way cute. We even hung balloons from the ceiling for decor, it turned out so good. Here are just a few pictures.

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Jaxon is a ham and makes the funniest faces. I usually can't get a picture of them but I got a few of his funny faces this time. At the end of May Jaxon turned 10 months old, I know it's already July but I'm just trying to catch up.

This is what Jaxon is doing and loving at 10 months:

Tries to climb on everything

Army crawls super fast

Starting to crawl on all 4s

Favorite game is to pull out all the baby wipes

Loves, loves, loves Naomi

Likes banging on her bedroom door

Loves the kitchen cupboards

Love Love Loves the pool

Loves bath time with big sister

Still loves to scream (high pitched & loud)

Likes to point at things

Here's some video of Jaxon army crawling and trying the climb the stairs (don't worry I was right next to him).

Also at the end of May was Naomi's dance recital. She was so cute and she did such a good job. We were so proud of her. Even in her last dance her hair bow was falling off and she kept on dancing. We're so glad Aunt Amy, cousin Brennan, Uncle Craig, Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Taylor, and Grandma Sharon could come.

(Naomi is the 4th from the right)

The videos from her recital wouldn't upload so, I'll put it in a different post.

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Can you believe it, my baby is 9 months old. He's getting so big and so mobile and he's into everything.

Here are his stats:

Wt-20lbs 8oz (50th)

Ht-28.25 in (50th)

Head-18.25 in (didn't say, guessing 50th)

This is what Jaxon is doing and loving at 9 months:

Climbs the stairs (mostly by himself)

Army crawls everywhere

Favorite game is to see what's in the bucket and pull it out (as soon as he dumps it I fill it back up and the game starts all over)

Loves getting high fives from his big sister

Thinks Naomi is the funniest person on Earth (who doesn't?!)

Loves food, especially real people food

When I say "Go get Naomi" he will army crawl after her

Loves the stairs (oh I think I mentioned that)

Love Love Loves the pool

Loves bath time with big sister

Loves opening the bottom stove drawer

Loves it when I open the pantry drawer or the fridge

Loves to scream (high pitched & loud)

Pulls himself up to stand (found him standing in his crib, uh oh)

We sure love our monkey.

Naomi started soccer last month and she is loving it. Their team name is the Yellow Giraffes. She is the only girl on her team and the best dribbler. Here she is at the end of her practice.

Here she is during her game.

And here is a little video.

Naomi is still in dance and loving it. They are getting ready for the end of the year recital this month. I couldn't get any good pictures, so here is a sneak peak video.

Sadly my camera wasn't working very well so these are the only pictures I got of the kids on Easter.

The kids got some fun water toys from the Easter bunny. We did a little Easter egg hunt in our house before church. I sadly don't have any pictures of the kids in their Easter outfits, but I'll get one soon. The day before Easter we did an egg hunt at Cory's brother's in-law's. Those pictures are on Cory's phone.

But we've been having lots of fun. Hopefully the next post will be sooner then later.

Oh and I did a guest post on my friends site last month. Check it out at Fun On a Dime.

The Crowley's

After Naomi's Dance Recital

4th of July in Utah

BYU Graduation 2009

About Us

It all started over a game of "Animal" in May of 2005. After a summer of friendship, we fell in love and got married in March 2006 in the Timpanogos Temple. Naomi blessed our lives a year and a month later. In December 2008, we graduated from BYU and shortly thereafter moved down to sunny Arizona. Our family grew in 2011 with the addition of Jaxon. And we grew by one more with the addition of Marley Jo in 2013. We're loving life and enjoying our poolside view here in AZ.